Racette, Drury Start Strong Against Taconic

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Senior Danielle Racette was ready to get the season started on Monday night, and the rest of the Drury girls' basketball team followed her lead in a 52-18 home win over Taconic.

Racette had a great all-around game, scoring a game-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. She also nailed three shots from behind the arc, helping the Blue Devils forget about their last game played at Bucky Bullett Gymnasium, a 33-25 loss to Athol in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 Western Mass. tournament. Racette almost matched her team's total in points for that game by herself on Monday, sparking the Drury to a 15-2 lead after the first quarter and a 29-6 edge at halftime.

"It was a great start to our season with a solid team effort to earn the win," Blue Devils head coach John Franzoni said. "Danielle had an excellent overall game, while freshman Olivia Carlson came off the bench to score six points in the first quarter."

Carlson eventually netted eight points in her first game on varsity, while senior forward Shannon Garvey chipped in with eight points and three rebounds. Fellow senior Ali Tatro also had a good game, scoring three points to go with five boards and four assists.

"Ali provided a spark with her relentless effort on both ends of the court," Franzoni said. "We received positive efforts from all nine players, and we'll need that type of performance on Thursday when we play Lee in our next league game."

Junior Nyanna Slaughter led the Braves with nine points. Taconic is now off until next Tuesday, when it hosts Ludlow at 7 p.m.

Drury welcomes the Wildcats for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff in the second game of the Gene Wein Holiday Tournament on Thursday.